Some Denver Broncos fans were perturbed when they heard that Bo Nix threw an interception (or two) in Day 7 of training camp, but it was a great play made by the defender. And 'iron sharpens iron,' after all.
That defender was new Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga, whom head coach Sean Payton praised profusely for picking off his boy after practice.
“The play, the interception was an RPO. If you really looked at his [Hufanga's] distance from the throw, I’ll bet it was like eight yards," Payton said on Friday. "So to be able to go up and catch that with a crowded look in front of him, I’m anxious to see it on film. I saw it from behind the line of scrimmage."
Payton has been around the NFL a long time. He's been a head coach since 2006, with one or two years off in between, and coaching since the 1990s.
The common denominators that tie the all-time great safeties, in Payton's estimation, are instincts and football IQ. Hufanga checks both boxes.
"The one thing over the years, if I asked you to give us the best safeties that are in the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame, the traits are always instincts and football smarts," Payton said. "Some are faster than others, but it’s hard to be real effective at that position if you don’t have those high football instincts. And certainly, he brings that."
Not long after the Broncos signed Hufanga to a three-year, $45 million deal, Payton shared some of his observations from scouting the safety's four-year run with the San Francisco 49ers. Payton marveled at Hufanga's knack for being around the ball back in March, calling him a "first responder."
"We made a comment in the offseason: there are certain players, the ball finds him, and he’s one of those guys," Payton said on Friday. "So that play was sick.”
Hufanga likes what he's seen from Payton, too. The fifth-year safety shared his initial impressions of his new head coach not long ago.
"So far, one word that comes to mind is just very diligent," Hufanga told NFL Network. "He's very smart when it comes to—he has all the nicks and the knacks and understands, he's seen a lot of ball. Just coming out there and just giving me little tidbits, and stuff that I just haven't heard in my career. And try and take that in and go out there and apply it to my game in the best way possible to help us win."
Perspective on Nix
Nix's interception(s) on Day 7 were his first of training camp, so that's a very encouraging realization. Hufanga flying around the defensive backfield is great training for Nix, especially with the safety's closing speed. Payton wasn't worried about Nix's turnover in the slightest, dismissing the notion that he's "exploring" his boundaries.
“I don’t know that we’re ever exploring. Meaning, I think there’s confidence in certain throws, and yet there’s still a structure to each pattern," Payton said of Nix. "Then more than anything, it’s the defensive deployment... I understand your question, and yet I’m good with his current exploration.”
Training camp is the format for Nix to test the boundaries of what he's capable of, especially going against a defense that's as good as Denver's is, at all three levels. We haven't heard any complaints from the coaches that the defense's relative control of the padded practices has smothered or interfered with the offensive installation, so, as long as that's not happening, it's about resistance training.
That's how any muscle grows, after all. Resistance.
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